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The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new U.S. Department of State-funded research program on coffee and cacao, with $8 million obligated for its first year and a possible term of up to five years. The university program will work with Clemson and other partners on crop resilience, farm practices and research capacity; specific country sites and projects have not been announced.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead a new federally funded research program on coffee and cacao, backed by an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The U.S. Department of State’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Coffee and Cacao could run for up to five years and will bring together universities, research organizations and industry partners to study challenges facing the crops.
The program is a multi-institution research initiative, not a single new laboratory building. Clemson University will co-direct it, and research is expected to cover coffee- and cacao-producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. The agreement may extend for up to five years, though the source report identifies only the first-year obligation of $8 million.
Planned research includes breeding coffee and cacao varieties with stronger resistance to disease and drought, as well as work on farm management and post-harvest processing. The program also aims to build research capacity in producing countries. Economic research is expected to help governments assess where agricultural research spending could have the greatest impact.
Partners named in the program include World Coffee Research and the Coffee Quality Institute, alongside UC Davis, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. Mars, PlantVillage+ and the Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council are also participating. UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience Dean Parwinder Grewal is the program’s principal investigator.
Research Targets Crop Resilience
The program directs federal support toward research on two crops facing production risks from disease, drought and climate pressures. For growers, improved varieties and practical farm or processing methods could help protect yields and quality, although the program’s announcement does not promise specific outcomes or timelines for delivering them.
The investment also responds to a long-running funding concern in the coffee sector. World Coffee Research estimated in a 2023 report that the global industry would need an additional $452 million annually for a decade in agricultural research and development to sustain production diversity and quality. That estimate describes a sector-wide funding need; it is not the budget of this new lab. The program’s first-year $8 million obligation is one federal research commitment within a much larger gap.
Hawaiʻi has direct local stakes. It is the only U.S. state that commercially produces both coffee and cacao, and its coffee farms have faced coffee berry borer and coffee leaf rust. The new research may connect university and international expertise with those production challenges, while also addressing needs in other producing regions.
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A New Federal Research Structure
The State Department announced the coffee and cacao program on October 15 as one of eight Feed the Future Innovation Labs at U.S. universities. Other programs announced at the same time cover areas including cereals, soil fertility, animal health, peanuts and aquaculture. The report says these university-based initiatives support international agricultural research and food security.
The new program follows disruption to the previous funding structure. Feed the Future Innovation Labs had historically received support through USAID, which was dismantled in 2025 under the Trump administration, according to the source report. Before that shutdown, USAID had awarded Cornell a five-year, $5.485 million cooperative agreement for a Coffee Improvement Program with World Coffee Research. Federal award records showed $1 million obligated before that award was terminated in 2025.
Advocacy for dedicated federal coffee and cacao research had been underway for years. The Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council said its administrator, Suzanne Shriner, and World Coffee Research began making the case to members of Congress in 2020. In 2023, those groups, the National Coffee Association and the Hawaiʻi Coffee Association supported legislation intended to broaden federal funding for coffee plant-health research.
“The Innovation Lab is designed to transform coffee and cacao science into practical benefits for small farmers in Hawaii, the continental U.S., and around the world.”
— Parwinder Grewal, UH Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience dean and program principal investigator
Project Sites Await Details
The program has been announced, but specific producing-country research sites and individual projects have not yet been named. The source report also does not provide a detailed schedule, the allocation of the first-year funding among partners, or a breakdown of funding beyond the initial $8 million obligation. Although the agreement could last up to five years, that maximum term should not be read as confirmation that all five years of funding have already been committed.
Expected benefits for farmers remain prospective. The program’s stated priorities describe areas of research, not confirmed discoveries, new crop varieties or measured improvements in yields. Details on how projects will be selected and how results will be shared with growers are still to come.
Partners Begin Research Planning
The innovation lab is launching this month, according to the report. The next public milestones are likely to include identification of research sites, project plans and how participating institutions will divide the work, but the source does not give dates for those announcements.
As the program develops, partners are expected to pursue research across crop breeding, farm management, post-harvest processing and research capacity. Readers will need further announcements to learn which producing countries and farmer groups will take part, how the first-year funds will be distributed, and whether the agreement continues beyond its initial year.
Key Questions
Who will lead the Coffee and Cacao Innovation Lab?
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will lead the program, with Clemson University serving as co-director.
How much funding has been announced?
The program has an initial $8 million obligation for its first year. The agreement could run for up to five years, but the report does not establish that funding for the full possible term has been committed.
What will the program research?
Its stated priorities include breeding coffee and cacao for greater disease and drought resistance, improving farm management and post-harvest processing, and building research capacity in producing countries.
Where will the research take place?
Research is expected to span producing regions in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Specific countries, sites and projects have not yet been announced.
Is this a new laboratory building in Hawaiʻi?
No. The “lab” is a multi-institution research program, rather than a single physical laboratory facility.
Source: rss
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